Chapter 8 - World Shaker

Aian lay curled up in bed, covers pulled up over his head and arms hugging the pillow he had buried his face in.

He had thrown himself in to a cold shower and in to the bed as soon as he got home but even that couldn’t erase his chaotic feelings to the memories of that evening.

It was just a kiss, damn it.

Well, that wasn’t quite right.

That was more than just a kiss. No, it was more of a full blown make out session on the balcony and then again in the limo on the way home.

Aian was now convinced that the entire reason that man got driven around in a limo was so he could have his hands free for other things.

Like molesting little photographers.

Not that Kalvin had done anything entirely inappropriate, although he was pretty sure those huge hands had wandered under his clothes at some point as there was no way his shirt got like THAT on its own.

After the breathtaking kiss at the balcony of the restaurant, things had gotten awkward or maybe it was just Aian himself because as he stared up at Kalvin’s gray eyes, staring down at him with desire in his eyes, Aian did not know when he answered yes or just nodded his acquiesce when the man had asked him if they should go.

Aian suddenly found himself in the clutches of his ash blonde twin flame, being pulled towards the limo- he did not even noticed when they went towards the first floor, in front of the restaurant or whether they had said their goodbyes to Nettie.

His mind came back to him from who knows where when he heard the tell tale sound of a car door shutting close. Surprised, he let out a squeak when he was immediately lifted off of the seat.

By then, he had found himself fully sitting in Kalvin’s lap, arms on the man’s chest, the back of his head being held in place as his mouth was held captive again.

A few stunned seconds passed and he also became eager with the activities that were occurring when they were interrupted by Kalvin’s phone.

And Kalvin had growled.

A deep, rumbling growl from the back of the man’s throat that sent a flash of heat straight to Aian’s own groin.

Turns out that was a special line they call to get hold of him only in emergencies.

Fiery eyes flashed and suddenly, Aian was pulled in for one last heated kiss, leaving him with tingling lips and gasping for breath.

They had arrived at his apartment a few minutes later, Kalvin still on the phone, and Aian had all but dashed out of the car and inside his apartment, almost fumbling with his keys.

His feelings were torn over the call.

If that hadn’t interrupted, he knew what they would be doing right now because those gray eyes had been filled with desire and dark promise.

The man was good. He knew what he was doing and Aian had been like putty in his hands. Having had a taste of what he offered left Aian breathless for more but at the same time it was too much, too soon, and he needed to clear his head.

Twin Flame.

He groaned into the pillow.

He couldn’t get it out of his head. The feeling of warm hands tracing his skin, lips moving against his own.

He had fought for control of the kiss at the beginning, a fight for dominance that seemed it could go either way until Kalvin apparently decided that he had indulged him enough.

He had taken absolute control leaving Aian weak kneed and reeling in response.

In all fairness, his own inexperience was probably to blame. He had never been interested in such things before, much preferring to spend his time with his friends or doing stakeout work. But from what he had experienced, Kalvin was on a whole other level.

He was catching up with his best friends tomorrow and he knew they would ask him about this.

About HIM.

Aian just knew he would blush at the barest mention of Kalvin right now so he was in for a long afternoon. With another groan, he curled up and tried to calm his thoughts enough to sleep.

He wasn’t successful for quite some time.

*****

Aian took a deep breath before he entered the quiet little coffee shop.

It was late afternoon on a Tuesday just after the office lunch time rush. The perfect time to have a catch up over coffee without it being so noisy that you almost needed to shout to be heard.

He spotted his friends sitting over in the corner and waved when they spotted him. He ordered a coffee, needing the caffeine after his thoughts kept him awake the night before, and made his way over to his friends’ table.

“Aian!”

“Hey, guys.”

“You haven’t been replying to our messages,” Sam mock pouted at him. “We weren’t sure if you would even show for our weekly catch up. Brent thought that you got a girlfriend or something,” he snorted, showing what he thought of that idea. “But I figured you’d just gotten carried away on stakeouts.”

Aian felt the blush forming immediately. Turns out someone didn’t need to explicitly mention Kalvin; his brain was quite capable of conjuring thoughts about the man on its own accord.

He saw Sam’s eyes widen in surprise as Brent grinned and he knew he was doomed.

Sam’s blonde hair still had that streak of black lightning bolt that got him in a problem with his parents when he colored it that way without permission. His brown eyes was always smiling, like right that moment. In contrast, his twin flame best friend, Brent always had on a messy looking indigo- dyed hair with blue eyes that always seemed half closed and sleepy.

The duo had contrasting personalities aside from their appearances but they get along incredibly well. Aian had thought before that it was because they were platonic twin flames, but as he got to know them pore and spent much time with them, he realized that they really were the perfect together because their personalities fit each other.

So how about him and Kalvin?

“Not quite…” he trailed off as he jumped up to grab his coffee after his name was called before returning to the table.

Both of his friends were now smirking with very predatory glints in their eyes and Aian groaned internally.

“So, Yanyan, what is this ‘not quite’ that causes you to blush instantly and without prompting?”

“I found my twin flame,” he said softly, not quite meeting his friend’s eyes, desperately trying to will away the increasing heat in his cheeks.

“Oh wow! Congrats, dude!”

“Nice work, Yanyan! Now you have to tell us all the details!”

Aian sighed and took a sip of his coffee to buy time. “So, it’s a man, his name is Kalvin Fenellere. He’s a bit older than me,” he ignored Sam as he pulled out his own phone. “Umm, he’s a businessman. Seems pretty successful. We are… uh… very different.”

“And a romantic twin flame too if that blush was anything to go by,” Brent’s words just made the heat in Aian’s face flare up more. His friend's grin widened. “I’m guessing something happened between you two? You can’t have known each other very long either.”

Aian didn’t have time to reply as Sam interrupted them with a low whistle.

“Dude! I thought I recognized the name: ‘Kalvin Fenellere, CEO of multi billion Ecliprises Corporation and investor in numerous other companies and ventures. A notoriously private person, Kalvin’s personal wealth is undisclosed, but the man is rumored to be personally worth almost as much as his company.’ It goes on to list a bunch of other companies and things he’s done. Holy shit, man. How did you meet someone like this?”

Brent whacked Sam playfully over the head at his exclamation.

“Idiot! Twin Flames don’t take wealth into consideration.”

“He still needs to tell us how they met,” Sam whined which actually mad him smile.

Aian explained that fateful day once again. He idly wondered how many times he would have to recount this. He could feel the exasperation as he got to the camera part. It still irked him how it was broken even now a few days later.

“Man! Brent, why couldn’t you have been super rich? I could do with a sugar daddy right now too.”

Aian, who had just taken a sip of his coffee, choked at that. He was still coughing as Sam nearly fell off his chair with laughter.

“You’re too easy, man!”

Aian groaned before replying, "It's not funny, guys. He took me out to Pinky last night. You know that fancy restaurant that all the celebrities try to get in to? He picked me up in a freaking limo! He knows the owner and she organized a table for us. It was set up as some romantic dinner for two with candles and flowers! It was so embarrassing! The guy just smirked at me and said he hadn't asked for that, and told me that was the one who Nettie did it on her own. She gave us a bottle of champagne as congratulations for the whole twin flame thing and it was worth like 6 weeks of my rent.”

He felt breathless as he spoke non stop. “I was drinking 6 weeks’ worth of rent! Then the smug guy just ordered for me so I wouldn't freak out over the prices and distracted me with the food once it arrived."

They were both laughing at him now.

"Sounds like he has a pretty good handle on you if he's distracting you with food," Brent remarked.

"Guys, this isn't funny!"

"No, it really is. You are the last person to care about money and that's who you get as a twin flame? It's freaking hilarious!" Sam commented between bouts of laughter.

Aian's head hit the table with a soft thud. "I hate you two."

"Nah, you love us really," Sam gasped out between giggles as he wiped the tears from his eyes.

"The food at a place like that must have been pretty good," Brent said.

"Yeah," Aian gave a wistful sigh as he remembered all the delicious smells and flavors. "It was amazing."

It sent his two friends back into fits of laughter after they had barely begun to calm down.

"He's got you by the stomach, Yanyan. You’re a goner," his purple haired friend proclaimed as if it was the truth.

Aian glared at his two best friends, tears of laughter now running down their faces. "I don't see what's so funny."

"Only you would get so upset over being taken out for dinner, Yanyan. You should see your face right now," Sam claimed.

Aian decided that he needed better friends. “But I seriously don’t know what to make of him. I mean he’s just so… so…”

“I wonder if there is a picture of him,” Sam had his phone in hand again. “There is! Oh wow, he’s pretty hot in a kind of intimidating way.”

Brent leaned over to take a look. “Sure, if you swing that way,” he said and Sam just shrugged.

Aian bit his lip as he stared down at his own finger, drawing random patterns across the table before speaking again.

“He’s dangerous.”

They both turned to look at him.

“I had heard his name before as well, but it was at the police station when I am getting information for scoops. No one could ever pin anything on him, but I was always warned to stay away from anything that has to do with him because he was that dangerous. They always treat me like a kid but they’ve had informants just vanish into thin air and others suddenly refuse to talk.”

He took a breath when he remembered their stare down at the side walk on the very first day they had met.

“I’ve glimpsed it, it’s like he keeps it toned down normally but turns on this… aura of intimidation and power when he feels like not keeping it under wraps. He got angry about me when I refused his proposal of buying me a new camera and I saw it then.”

He gave an involuntary shiver remembering that intense gaze staring down into him, seeming to strip him bare.

“Maybe he’ll be good for you.”

Aian looked up at Brent in surprise.

Brent let out a small smile as he shrugged. “I mean, you’re an adrenaline junkie, Yanyan. Let’s be honest, you’re always getting yourself in to dangerous situations with your camera. Maybe being with such a dangerous man will calm you down. Or at least if you really get in to trouble, it sounds like he might be able to step in and save your ass.”

“...”

“I just don’t know what to make of it all,” Aian sighed and ran his hands through his hair.

“He’s a romantic twin flame, right?” Brent confirmed.

Aian’s instant blush gave it away.

“That’s pretty interesting. A man like that, huh. What happened that got you to give that reaction, anyway? It’s only been what, a few days?” his purple haired friend asked.

“Geez, Yanyan, did you sleep with him on the first date?” Sam chimed.

“What?!” Aian waved his hands in front of his face in denial. “No, no! It was just a kiss.”

Both of his friends were giving him a sceptical look.

“He’s just… really good, is all.”

Unfortunately, it was the wrong thing to say because their sceptical looks changed to rather evil grins.

Aian groaned. “I really hate you guys.”